ANNA PIDGORNA and MARIA REVA will present their in-progress opera theatre work THE CELLAR, which explores military occupation in southern Ukraine. Get a sneak peek into this project through workshop performances of several scenes and join a discussion with the artists.
With this work, composer ANNA PIDGORNA and librettist MARIA REVA aim to process the seemingly endless cycles of imperialist aggression that their homeland and family have been subjected to over centuries, pushing back against subtle Russian propaganda narratives that cloud and confuse understanding of this war and its historical context outside of Ukraine.
This event is part of a theatre residency supported by Shadbolt Centre for the Arts and Deer Lake Artist-in-Residence program.
DATE: Friday, October 17, 2025 @ 7:30 pm
LOCATION: Studio Theatre @ Shadbolt Centre for the Arts
TICKETS: Free! No registration required. Just show up.
INFO:
https://pickleunderground.com/cellar-workshop/
SYNOPSIS:
THE CELLAR is an experimental opera theatre work combining live performance with electronic sound design and projections to tell a fictional story of three elderly siblings who return to their homeland – Ukraine – just as Russia invades. Trapped in the same cellar where they once hid from the Nazis in 1941 and the Soviets in 1944, the siblings recall how they survived past occupations by performing the songs of their oppressors – SS marches and Soviet war-time songs. Their only connection to the world above are intercepted radio conversations of Russian soldiers picked up through a loose metal filling in the older sister’s tooth, a rare but real phenomenon. As they hide, subsisting on pickled tomatoes and pumping air with an old accordion bellow, they reflect on their Ukrainian identity and how far they would go to survive this repeating ordeal.
ARTISTS:
Anna Pidgorna, composer
Maria Reva, librettist
Kadaitcha, electronics
Sara Albu, soprano
SJ Kirsch, soprano
Matti Pulkki, accordion
Anna Shylova-Kolomiets, director
Masha Birkby, stage manager
Kostiantyn Tereshchenko, visual art
SPONSORS:
A big thank you to our hosts Deer Lake Artist Residencies and Shadbolt Centre for the Arts, and to our sponsors Shevchenko Foundation, BC Arts Council and Canada Council for the Arts.
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